SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE SELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR RECOMMENDATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER, UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND.

SEC. 598. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE SELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR RECOMMENDATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER, UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND. (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–433) envisioned that officers would be selected for recommendation to the President for appointment as the commander of a combatant command under chapter 6 of title 10, United States Code (as added by that Act), on the basis of being the best qualified officer for that position, rather than the best qualified officer of the armed force that had historically supplied officers to serve in that position. (2) In order to provide for greater competition among the Armed Forces for selection of officers for assignment as the 115 STAT. 1128commanders of the combatant commands and assignment to certain other joint positions in the grade of general or admiral, Congress provided temporary relief from the limitation on the number of officers serving on active duty in the grade of general or admiral in section 405 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 and thereafter extended that relief until September 30, 2003, but has also required that the Secretary of Defense be furnished the name of at least one officer from each of the Armed Forces for consideration for appointment to each such position. (3) Most of the positions of commanders of the combatant commands have been filled successively by officers of more than one of the Armed Forces since the enactment of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. (4) However, general officers of the Air Force with only limited experience in the transportation services have usually filled the position of commander of the United States Transportation Command. (5) The United States Transportation Command could benefit from the appointment of future commanders selected from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, in addition to the Air Force. (b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense, when considering officers for recommendation to the President for appointment as commander of the United States Transportation Command, should not rely upon officers of one service which has traditionally provided officers to fill that position but should select for such recommendation the best qualified officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps.